Promises Asked, Promises Kept
by Renee Index
Summary: What if the some of the promises that were made to the late fourth Hokage were kept? How would Naruto grow up and live? Rated M for safety. NarutoxHinata other pairing later I'm sure.
1. Chapter 1 - A Knight Begins

Disclaimer: I do not own of the characters in this. This is a simple fan fiction. The characters and all names are owned by Masashi Kishimoto.

"Talking"

_Thinking_

**Jutsu/ Kyuubi**

Chapter 1- A Knight Begins

The night sky shone with tiny stars and a large, bright moon. Small tendrils of clouds floated through the open night air, obscuring stars here and there. A slight chill crept through the darkness. A small figure, shrouded by the night, stalked the small alleyway. Its profile was hidden by the lack of light sources. It crept from cover to cover, making no noise as it stalked to the end of the passage. Finally, the stranger reached the end of the side street, and the light from the moon shone on his face. Under a hood of orange, blond hair poked out. The small boy, only five or six years old, looked up and down the large path. A nervous disposition was evident on the young boy's face. Seeing the coast was clear, he struck the road hard, in a dead sprint. His goal only meters away, a set of wooden stairs.

"There he is! I found the demon!" Shouted a man, calling several other members of his group over. The group consisted of about six or seven men, from what the boy could tell, but he could only spare a passing glance. He reached the stairs, only a few steps ahead of the group of running men. The boy dashed up the stairs, to the second landing. A slow dread spread through his body as he slowly realized that his front door was locked, and to unlock it would take precious second he did not have. He reached for his keys, hoping to get lucky with the lock. He reached the door and slammed the key into the lock, turning his handle, and the door swung in with a great force. His body crossed the threshold, and relief passed through his system.

The relief turned to horror as he felt a hand grab a hold of the back of his jacket. He fought for his life, struggling against the hold that sought to pull him out of the safety of his small apartment. The hand was soon joined by more, the force of the pull growing twice over. With a small cry, the boy was jerked out of his safe haven, as he struggled to get out of his small jacket. The blond was thrown to the ground. There was a snicker from one of the men. The chuckle had come from a tall, lanky man with a sadistic grin on his face. "Where do you think you are going, you demon!? Trying to run into your lair?" He spat with venom and hate in his voice. "Well if you think you are going to live peacefully with us, then you are very wrong. You are a plague on this village and we will do everyone a favor by killing you. Get him boys." The thin man said with authority.

The men began to close in from all sides. The boy curled up into a ball and whimpered. A scream rang out into the night, one of pain and fear. One of the lackeys gripped the wrist of his left arm, a stump where a hand once belonged. Blood flowed openly from the missing appendage, splattering the wooden landing. The men turned to glare at their attacker. Their eyes slowly grew in recognition, as their eyes trained on the cold mask of an ANBU ninja. The mask resembled that of a dog, with red and black marking littering the sides. He held a sword in his right hand, the blade covered with blood.

"You seven, you have defied the laws of the Hokage, and thus have committed treason. Leave and never be seen by me again, and you will live. Stay and you will surely perish." The masked ANBU spoke with a cold, harsh voice. The group of men turned tail and fled, fearful for the punishment to be given. The young boy slowly stood, using his hand to try and stifle the swell of tears threatening to spill over.

"Are you unharmed, Naruto?" The dog-masked ANBU asked, his voice turning soft and caring. "Yes, I'm fine…" Naruto replied, finally stopping the tears. "Alright, then I will take my leave. Goodbye, young one." The ANBU then leaped into the night, vanishing from Naruto's view. Naruto turned around and entered into his apartment, closing his door and locking it.

_Why… why do they hate me so much? I haven't done anything to them. I am so lost…_ Naruto thought to himself as he slumped over on the inside of his bedroom door. He crawled into bed and fell asleep. His last thoughts were of his father, and how he wished he would come home soon.

The sun shined in through the window, softly lighting the young blond, who for all intent and purposes was dead to the world. The small alarm on his night stand began its daily wailing, rousing a young Naruto from his slumber. He yawned and began his morning ritual. After taking a shower and getting dressed, he opened the fridge and began to cook himself some breakfast. "Geez, Ramen would be so much easier to make, and way more tasty than this." He then grimaced. "On second thought, Dad would kill me if I ate ramen every day, too much trouble to deal with." He finished his breakfast and sat down to eat.

Naruto closed the front door, thinking seriously about not locking it. He decided to lock it just in case, and began to walk towards to the park. He arrived after about twenty minutes. He sat down on a park bench and began to think about how his dad would take him here, when he was home.

"I wonder how much longer dad will be gone. He usually is only gone for about a week, but he hasn't been home for two weeks now. I hope he is okay." Naruto sighed and got up to go find something to do. He slowly walked through the park, seeing no one of his age. He began to walk into the forest when he heard someone speak.

"You think you are too good to talk to us, huh!? You Hyuuga are all the same, your nose so far in the air. What make you so good, huh, Konoha Princess!?" Naruto hid behind a tree to see what was going on. It was a group of three boys, each about seven or eight. They were all looking at a young girl, about Naruto's age, with dark hair and lavender eyes. A voice rang through Naruto's head. _If you ever find a young maiden in need of help, be the first one to stand, Naruto. Ladies love a knight in shining armor!_

Naruto grinned to himself, and rushed from the bushes, tackling the leader of the group. Naruto then got up and faced the other two, putting himself between them and the young girl. The leader got up and spit out a bit of blood from his busted lip. "What are you doing kid? Don't you know who that is!?" He shouted, his friends voicing their agreements. "I don't care who she is! She is a maiden in need, and so I will help, Dattebayo!" Naruto smiled back to the girl and she blushed and looked down. Naruto turned back to see the boys starting to circle around them.

"I don't know who you think you are, but if you want to get beat too, then I will do it with pleasure." The kid with the busted lip said as a smiled and rushed at Naruto. The young blond dodged the swing from the boy and pushed him with all his strength. The kid sprawled out in the dirt, growling. The other two rushed at Naruto, catching him by his arms. The two held him in place as the leader got up and walked back over. "Stupid hero, you can't win so why even try?" the leader spat. Naruto chuckled and looked up at him with a goofy grin. "That's easy. If I don't, who will? And I will never give up!" Naruto shouted. The leader drew his fist back to punch this kid's lights out. As his fist swung towards Naruto, the young girl cried out to her would be savior. The sound of skin hitting skin resounded.

"Tsk tsk tsk, what would your parents think about picking on a poor defenseless brat like this? I would certainly walk away from this, boys." The boys turned away and ran. Naruto was already turned around and talking to the pearl eyed youth. "Ummm, are you okay?" Naruto asked as he helped her up. "Y…yes. I am fine, th…thank you." The youth said as she looked down at her feet. "Well… My name is Naruto! What's yours?" Naruto asked with a big smile. "H…Hinata Hyuuga…" Hinata replied, expecting the same reaction from the boys that had just picked on her.

"Cool! Hi Hinata! By the way, what's up with the eyes?" Naruto asked he in earnest. Hinata was surprised not only by his obvious lack of tact, but that he didn't care, nor seem to even know about the Hyuuga name tagged to her. "Naruto, what have I told you about treating the ladies with respect, huh?" The Man said as he rapped his knuckles against the blonde's head. "Ow ow ow ow! Jeez dad! That hurt!" Naruto said as he rubbed his knot on the top on his head. "Ummmm, You said dad? Ummm, n… nice to meet you, sir." Hinata said with a formal bow. "Nah don't call me sir, makes me sound old. You can call me the great and" Naruto coughs roughly. "Fine, Just call me Jiraiya, The Toad Sage!"


	2. Chapter 2 - A Simple School Day

**A\N: Hey guys! Its Renee Index here with a grand new adventure! What will be in store on this quest!? Who knows!...oh that's right. I DO! MWUHAHAHAHAHA! Alright here is the deal my Indexians. I will be trying to update this grand up taking on a Bi-Weekly basis. This is my very first real Fan Fiction so I will be *Attempting* the Bi-weekly basis thing. So no yelling! Jeez . anyways, enjoy Chapter two to the great and wonderful *Naruto coughing roughly*… you know, you are such a spoil sport, Naruto… fine whatever. Enjoy Chapter 2 to Promises Asked, Promises Kept.**

Disclaimer: Renee does not own of the characters in this. This is a simple fan fiction. The characters and all names are owned by Masashi Kishimoto, Dattebayo!

Chapter 2 – A Simple day of School

Naruto grinned to himself, proud of the work he had done. It was so perfect! This was sure to put it to those two stuck ups that fawned over that black haired stick in the mud. The rest of the class stared at the prank in the making. Some were rooting for Naruto, Kiba laughing at the simplicity of the joke. Some showed disinterest, Sasuke, said stick in the mud, and the silent bug boy, Shino sat ignoring the shenanigans of their hyperactive classmate. Shikamaru, a lazy good for nothing, sat in his seat snoring, and his large best friend, Choji, sat in the next seat, eating a bag of chips.

Voices carried into the classroom, the voices belonging to two teenage girls. Naruto chuckled evilly, and dove for his chair. Hinata, sat beside her childhood friend with a worried look on her face. "Ummm… Naruto-kun, are you sure this is a good idea? Something might go wrong… or worse, it could actually work…" Hinata asked the blond with hesitance. She knew how Naruto could get with pranks, and she worried about the target he had chosen for this particular joke.

The sound of the door opening flowed into Naruto's ears. The grin on his face doubled in size. A Crash resonated throughout the classroom, and panic coursed through Naruto's veins. "Oh my gosh, Iruka-Sensei, are you okay!?" Sakura asked as she noticed the thin line of wire running along the door. Naruto was at the window, and opening it with a fear driven fever, when Iruka got to his feet. "Sorry Iruka! I changed my mind on class today!" Naruto shouted as he jumped out the window, running for his life. "NARUTOOOOO!" Iruka shouted out the window, which only spurred Naruto to run faster.

"Jiraiya, I know you are a legend to this village, but this has got to stop. This is Naruto's sixth prank this week, and its only Wednesday! It is a detriment to the education of the whole class. I leave it to you to fix this Jiraiya, as only his father could." Iruka said, as he sat with the Sannin. Jiraiya nodded and shot a glare at the blond sitting at his side. "Trust me Iruka, I will take care of the prank problem quickly. Naruto should not be wasting his time with the small time pranks and I will fix this immediately. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will be taking my son home to talk. Goodbye Iruka. Naruto say your goodbyes." Jiraiya stood and began to walk to the door, a stern look on his face. "Goodbye Iruka-Sensei." Naruto said with fear in his eyes.

As Naruto and Jiraiya passed the courtyard of the school, Hinata ran up to the fearful looking blond. "I tried to warn you Naruto-kun… I hope he doesn't punished you to harshly…" Hinata noticed a complete shift in the mood as Naruto raised his head to look at her. A wide grin graced his face, the kind that made Hinata's heart flutter every time she saw it. She also noted a similar grin on the face of the white haired Sannin. "Don't worry about me Hinata, I know dad will give me a real talking to when we get home." Naruto said with a chuckle. "Well I guess I will see you in class tomorrow Hinata! See ya later!" Naruto called back to his friend, as he starts to walk to home with his father.

"Well Naruto, I hope you learned a valuable lesson today." Jiraiya said, as he stood at the kitchen table. "Yeah, I know dad. Always know the variables of the mission. It's not my fault Iruka was early! He shouldn't have come in for another minute or two!" Naruto pouted as he looked down at the table he sat at. "Well then why was he early today?" Jiraiya questioned, grabbing a folder from a small shelf. "He had a meeting with Sakura's mother this morning…" Naruto said, knowing full well where this was going. "And this caused what?" Jiraiya asked, laying the folder on the table. "Sakura to walk to school with him…" Naruto said with finality. "Exactly. This was an rookie mistake, Naruto. As I said in Iruka's office, I won't have you doing these small time pranks. You have to be better! You have to be a prank master and I won't stop until you are a legend in the hearts of these people!" Jiraiya said, Holding his head high and gripping his fists in front of him in pride. "You got it dad! I will be The Prank Master of Konoha Dattabayo!" Naruto shouted, rising from his chair. "Alright, then let's go over the observation files one more time and find the perfect prank!" Jiraiya said with a laugh.

As Jiraiya watched Naruto dive head first into the prank plans, he chuckled to himself. _My little brat doesn't know it yet, but this is grade A training for a ninja. He puts his everything into these pranks, and by observing and gathering intel on his victims, he is training his info gathering skills. I am sorry Naruto, you won't be known as the Prank Master of Konoha. You will be known as one of the greatest Ninja of this village. A title fit for the son of the great Fourth Hokage…_


End file.
